Pimp your Graphic Design career (Student)

Frankie Ratford is an Australian designer, lecturer, and speaker, and has been working in the design industry for over 10 years. She is the Director of The Design Kids, a platform dedicated to bridging the gap between students and industry within Graphic Design in Australia and New Zealand, as well as lecturing for four years, specialising in typography, publication and portfolios.

Each year, she runs an exhibition that teams a Creative Director up with a student or grad, and to date 740 people have taken part in the exhibitions, in multiple cities. During the folio submissions, she noticed the same issues popping up, so in 2013 she launched Folio Coaching, a one-on-one portfolio coaching service to help graduates, which has morphed this 12 step course, to keep it affordable for students.

Other notable achievements include being a International Society of Typographic Designers judge in 2014, working for big name studios herself, continually making job connections for graduates and being on first name basis with over 200 design studios internationally. She's obsessed with design and is very passionate about helping Australian and New Zealand designers find their place in the industry locally, and overseas. She's currently touring the USA to set up better channels for AUS/NZ designers to connect with opportunities overseas.